Thought vs. Reflection — What's the Difference?

Thought (or thinking) encompasses a flow of ideas and associations that can lead to logical conclusions. Although thinking is an activity of an existential value for humans, there is still no consensus as to how it is adequately defined or understood.

The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.

Past tense and past participle of think.

Something, such as light, radiant heat, sound, or an image, that is reflected.

The process of thinking; cogitation

Serious thinking or careful consideration

A product of thinking or other mental activity

A thought or an opinion resulting from such thinking or consideration

The faculty of thinking or reasoning

An indirect expression of censure or discredit

The intellectual activity or production of a particular time or group

A manifestation or result

Consideration; attention

The folding of a membrane from the wall of a cavity over an organ and back to the wall.

Intention; purpose

The folds so made.

Expectation or conception

The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.

(countable) Representation created in the mind without the use of one's faculties of vision, sound, smell, touch, or taste; an instance of thinking.

The property of a propagated wave being thrown back from a surface (such as a mirror).

(uncountable) The operation by which mental activity arise or are manipulated; the process of thinking; the agency by which thinking is accomplished.

Something, such as an image, that is reflected.

(uncountable) A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation or region).

Careful thought or consideration.

Anxiety, distress.

An implied criticism.

(uncountable) The careful consideration of multiple factors; deliberation.

(computing) The process or mechanism of determining the capabilities of an object at run-time.

A very small amount, distance, etc.; a whit or jot.

(anatomy) The folding of a part; a fold.

Simple past tense and past participle of think

The act of reflecting, or turning or sending back, or the state of being reflected.

The act of thinking; the exercise of the mind in any of its higher forms; reflection; cogitation.

The reverting of the mind to that which has already occupied it; continued consideration; meditation; contemplation; hence, also, that operation or power of the mind by which it is conscious of its own acts or states; the capacity for judging rationally, especially in view of a moral rule or standard.

Meditation; serious consideration.

Shining; brightness, as of the sun.

That which is thought; an idea; a mental conception, whether an opinion, judgment, fancy, purpose, or intention.

That which is produced by reflection.

Solicitude; anxious care; concern.

A part reflected, or turned back, at an angle; as, the reflection of a membrane.

A small degree or quantity; a trifle; as, a thought longer; a thought better.

Censure; reproach cast.

The content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about;

The transference of an excitement from one nerve fiber to another by means of the nerve cells, as in reflex action. See Reflex action, under Reflex.

The process of thinking (especially thinking carefully);

A calm lengthy intent consideration

The organized beliefs of a period or group or individual;

The phenomenon of a propagating wave (light or sound) being thrown back from a surface

A personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty;

Expression without words;

The image of something as reflected by a mirror (or other reflective material);

A likeness in which left and right are reversed

(mathematics) a transformation in which the direction of one axis is reversed

A remark expressing careful consideration

The ability to reflect beams or rays